The Engagement and Economic Empowerment team is here to empower all residents with access to economic opportunities and meaningful civic participation. Our team will strive to improve the quality of life for residents in neighborhoods and help facilitate community partnerships.
Learn about the Youth Advisory Council
The Love Your Block Program utilizes a high-impact volunteer strategy and mini-grants that connects community stakeholders and city agencies with local residents to help revitalize their neighborhoods and eliminate blight. The program captures the energy and commitment of residents to lead and make the initiative sustainable. In this process citizens are making their neighborhoods -and the city- a better place to live. Love your block 2020 now offers 1. Small home repairs 2.Mini-grants for small volunteer led projects 3. Tend The Bend Trailer/Clean-up Assistance.
City of South Bend – Love Your Block – Acts of Kindness Grant
Spring 2020
Love Your Block is designed to engage local volunteers by providing mini-grants to perform intensive neighborhood improvement projects in the city’s most challenged neighborhoods. While we can no longer gather in the neighborly ways we are used to due to COVID-19, the Office of the Mayor and South Bend’s E3 team (Engagement and Economic Empowerment) invite neighbors and neighborhood groups to apply for an “Acts of Kindness” grant.
ENGAGEMENT & ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
ANNOUNCES THE LAUNCH OF TEND THE BEND TRAILER
&
ANNOUCES IT’S 2nd ROUND OF LOVE YOUR BLOCK GRANTS
This past Spring/Summer of 2020 the Engagement & Economic Empowerment team awarded 15 Acts of Kindness Grants and launched the Digital Neighborhood Grant to keep neighbors safely connected and engaged. In the spirit of continuing to build community safely during these times of social distancing, we are excited to launch the Tend the Bend Trailer as well as announce a second round of Acts of Kindness and Digital Neighborhood Grants.
“The summer grant awardees created youth engagement activities, a neighborhood-based small business scavenger hunt, delivered thousands of facemasks and hand sanitizer, and inspired their neighbors in invaluable ways,” says city official Alkeyna Aldridge, “I’m excited to see what additional impact neighborhood leaders can create this round with further resources and the Tend the Bend tool library.”
The Tend the Bend Trailer is outfitted with tools such as lawnmowers, rakes, weed whackers, and various other tools to support neighborhood beautification efforts and blight elimination and it will be available for online bookings with the following links below. Any resident-led organization such as churches, nonprofits and neighborhood organizations can book the trailer to support their blight elimination efforts.
For more information visit:
Acts Of Kindness Grant Application: Apply Here For Fall 2020 AoK Grant
Ciudad de South Bend – Love Your Block – Beca “Acts of Kindness” Aplicación
Digital Inclusion application: Apply Here For Digital Inclusion
Aplicación para beca de vecindario digital
Booking Tend the Bend Trailer: Apply Here For The Tend to The Bend Trailer
Reserva el tráiler “Tend the Bend”
